Van made the statement at a National Assembly session on Wednesday. According to Van, the tourism industry accounted for 6.3 percent of Vietnam’s GDP in 2015. The rate grew to 6.9 percent in 2016 and 9.2 percent in 2019.
Foreign tourists in Vietnam
However, the Covid-19 pandemic severely hit the local tourism sector, causing 800,000 people to lose their job.
This year, Vietnam has set a goal to lure five million foreign visitors, however, in the first four months of this year, the figure was just around 100,000.
Vietnam has agreed to waive entry visa requirements for foreign nationals entering the country from 13 nations for 15 days. But in comparison, Thailand offers a visa exemption to citizens of 65 countries for up to 60 days.
Van suggested applying visa exemptions for 30 days, instead of the current 15 days, and argued it was necessary to simplify visa procedures.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism should boost tourism promotion activities abroad.
At the meeting, Nguyen Van Hung, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that the tourism sector was concentrating on raising the quality of the workforce and online marketing.
The recent SEA Games 31 event was a very good chance to promote the Vietnamese tourism sector through the participation of 10,000 athletes, coaches and officials along with 500 reporters from abroad.
Inbound tourism activities have seen a strong recovery after Covid-19, which is expected to be a key factor to boost the Vietnamese tourism sector.
